“A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION” Krishna Consciousness and the Judeo-Christian Tradition
A Guide to Interfaith Discussion

Dr. Harvey Cox

The following statement was made by Dr. Harvey Cox, a liberal
Protestant theologian at the Harvard Divinity School. It was originally given at
a symposium titled "Krishna Consciousness and Religious Freedom," at the Center
for the Study of World Religions at Harvard University on November 22, 1976. Dr.
Cox is the author of Secular City.

"I’ve asked myself in recent weeks, as there has been more and
more controversy about the Hare Krishna movement (many devotees of which I’ve
personally known and respected highly), ‘Why is it that suddenly this movement
has come in for such attention, to the point that one might even begin to speak
of harassment? Why is this?’

"And I have to confess now, as a theologian mainly committed
to Christianity, that I think it indicates a feeling of guilt and a feeling of
failure on the part of those who have tried to preserve something of the
critical and creative spiritual possibilities that Christianity itself offers.

"Could it be that we have allowed Christianity itself and
perhaps Judaism to be so identified with the values of accumulation, profit,
performance, success, and material gain—which are, after all, the main values of
our society—that it takes something as apparently esoteric and exotic as a
movement coming from India to remind us that there is a way of life that is not
built on accumulating profit, property, success, and degrees, but has at its
core a certain kind of simplicity and plainness of living, if you will?...

"Why is it, I asked myself that we can’t hear the voices of
prophets from our own tradition, and yet somehow people from as far away as
India can bring a message which in some ways sounds so similar? Maybe this is a
way that we are being called back to something more essential in our own
tradition—a way that God has of reminding us of what we’ve left behind and
forgotten and ignored.

"What is the meaning for us of this movement’s coming into our
midst in this century? I would put it in a very theological sense: What is God
saying to us? What does it mean?...Are we uncomfortable with this movement
because at a certain level we’re very uncomfortable with ourselves, with the
kind of materialistic society we’ve built?

"Maybe one of the results of this Hare Krishna movement will
be to stimulate us to rediscover some things that we’ve ignored and suppressed
in our own religious heritage. I think it may happen. And if it does, then I’m
very grateful for the kind of gift that they bring."

Dr. Cox sees Krishna Consciousness as an alternative to the
mass consumerism and crass materialism of the West:

"In American society, I believe we’re now in the late phase,
the most deteriorated, decadent phase of consumer capitalism. When I say
‘consumer capitalism,’ I don’t mean simply the form of our economic life; I mean
our whole culture. It’s not just a capitalist economic system. It’s a
capitalistic culture, with personal lifestyles, values, morality, and meaning
perceptions all in some measure shaped by this underlying ethos. And all this
means that the value of the person is greatly underrated.

"People’s primal energies are fixated on commodities that are
supposed to bring satisfaction of inner hungers. Through the suggestive and
hypnotic powers of the advertising industry, a direct connection is made from
very basic things which satisfy those needs; but of course they do not.
Furthermore, the life pattern is pretty well set out through educational,
occupational, and career structures which define for people the meaning of
success in material terms, and in a way that people think that they’re making
choices. But they’re actually being coerced and manipulated into a structure
which really does not pay off in terms of genuine spiritual satisfaction.

"The result...is the creation of a lot of unsatisfied hungers
and unresolved fears which turn into anger and violence. I think a lot of the
violence in our society is a result of this...Ultimately, I become angry at the
whole society that is the cause of my unfulfillment, and there’s a tendency to
take that frustration out on other people. So I think the whole web of violence
in our society is related to this in ways that are not explored thoroughly
enough by psychologists.

"Now, from my point of view, what Christianity should be doing
in this country is providing an alternative to this capitalist-consumer ethos,
in terms of personal values and ultimate meaning. There are a few Christians who
are doing it, but the vast majority of people who call themselves Christians
are, in fact, completely caught up in this un-Christian value system."

According to Dr. Cox, Jesus taught renunciation:

"This is a point that must have been very difficult for the
early followers of Jesus because he insisted, in every instance, that they put
loyalty to him above loyalty to their families, and he put it in very strident
terms: ‘Unless you leave behind your wife, your family, and come and follow me,
you can’t be my disciple.’...Now, somehow or other, over the years we’ve made
Jesus into a kind of blessing of the patriarchal bourgeois family. There’s not
one single text anywhere in the teachings of Jesus that supports this. Jesus is
a person who’s calling people to something that is more important than family."

Dr. Cox observes, "...there aren’t many examples around of
people who choose a path of religious asceticism, and devotion...The people who
understand the Hare Krishna movement better than many others are people who have
a relative who’s become a Benedictine monk or a nun. They know somebody who has
chosen to do something which appears to be crazy: giving up television, giving
up family life, leaving professional careers and going off to live in a
monastery. But that’s legitimated in the Catholic system. I’ve talked with
people about the Hare Krishna movement in this way and they can easily make the
connection."

Dr. Cox notes the familiar use of rituals and iconography in
Krishna temples around the world. "I’ve heard Catholics say how comforting it is
to walk into a Mass anywhere in the world and see the same gestures and hear the
same words, especially during the old days of the Latin Mass. You can walk into
any temple in Vrindavana, or in ISKCON, and pretty much the same thing is going
on."

Dr. Cox favorably compares Krishna Consciousness with
Christianity:

"You can see the obvious similarities. Here you have the idea
of a personal God who becomes incarnate...revealing what God is about and
eliciting a form of participation in the life of God.

"I think a Christian will have some natural sensitivity to
Krishna devotion... devotion of the heart, that is, pietistic Christianity...We
noted several surprising similarities between what you might call Appalachian
folk religion and Krishna Consciousness. Both religions put a big emphasis on
joy, the spiritual joy of praising God...

"...both traditions emphasize puritanical values and practice
certain forms of asceticism such as no drinking, no smoking, no non-marital sex
and no gambling...Both seem to put more emphasis on a future life or another
world."

According to Dr. Cox, "You have to remember that if you had
been there at the early Methodist frontier revivals here in America...you would
have seen some very ecstatic behavior...jumping up and down and singing. This
sort of ecstatic religious behavior is, of course, associated with religious
devotion from time immemorial in virtually every culture. We happen to be living
in a culture which is very restricted, unimaginative, and narrow in this
regard."

Dr. Cox says there are elements within the theology of Krishna
Consciousness which might nourish Christianity theologically. Specifically, he
says "that the relationship between Krishna and Radha adds a dimension of human
relationality which is not developed in Christian theology."

He says further that texts emphasizing the feminine aspect of
God and the conjugal imagery as a metaphor for the human relationship with the
Divine can be found in the Song of Songs, the Apocrypha, and the gnostic
gospels, but these are lacking in the New Testament. "We have some of that
imagery in some of the Carmelite mystics and other Catholic devotional writings,
but still it’s not very developed. Therefore, the whole realm of male-female
relationality has been almost totally excluded..."

On an abstract, theological level, Dr. Cox sees many
similarities between Krishna Consciousness and Christianity. According to Dr.
Cox, "It’s especially intriguing for Christian theologians, maybe even
deceptively intriguing, because of the obvious structural analogies to a lot of
Christianity in the devotional Hindu tradition. I find Vaishnavaism, and ISKCON
itself, a fascinating and challenging spiritual and theological movement. My
interest in it probably stems, in part, from the fact that it touches certain
aspects of my own spiritual tradition, my own spiritual trajectory, in a way
that other movements do not."

Other Christians have acknowledged the similarities, as well
as the differences, between the two faiths.

One early 20th century Christian theologian, Rudolf
Otto, called Vaishnavaism "India’s religion of grace," (see Back to Godhead:
"Can Religions Compete?", by Garuda dasa, 1980).

In the December 1982 issue of Back to Godhead, Timothy
A. James of Mt. Sterling, Kentucky wrote in and concluded: "I have met many
Krishna devotees who claim to be Christians...Please be aware that you are
leading many astray with your careless definition of Christ and Christianity. It
is simply a vain attempt to maintain your so-called claim of nonsectarianism.

"I have studied Krishna Conscious philosophy and the Vaishnava
bhakti writings. There are some rather striking similarities to
Christianity, but...Vaishnavaism is Hindu, so you embrace Hinduism—at least
admit that much. Then if you can stop deceiving yourself, you may be inclined to
stop deceiving others."

Vaishnavas, of course, cannot claim to be Jewish, Christian,
or Muslim. Nonetheless, for the sake of preaching, evangelization, and
interfaith discussion, it is perfectly fair and reasonable to bring up points of
similarities with other faiths.